Blogging about the bright side since 2010

Eat, Wear, Read: Summer 2018

Summer is now a thing of the distant past, but it was sure filled with some delightful food, books, and good outfits! Here’s a quick recap of my favorites:

Eats:

The salad of choice this summer was a mix of greens (spinach, romaine, kale, and Brussel sprouts), apples, chicken, dried cranberries, and poppyseed dressing. Sometimes I’d add bacon or goat cheese (or both), but this was definitely one of my favorite go-tos!

One of our favorite dinners this summer was BBQ ribs in the slow cooker. SO EASY. We would chop up some veggies (like potatoes, peppers, and carrots) then layer the meat on top with seasoning and BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours and then broil the ribs in the oven for around 5 minutes to get some caramelization. This dinner could not be tastier or easier.

Lastly, our family went on a bit of a cookie-baking spree at the end of summer. Actually it turned into a competition between me and Joe regarding who could bake the better chocolate chip cookie. Who benefitted the most from all of this? Clearly everyone.

Wear:

The majority of my summer was spent in this obnoxious floral romper. I bought it last summer because I fell in love with it, even though it didn’t fit with me being only a few weeks post-partum. But this summer, I rocked this thing on dates, to photo shoots, and running around with the kids. Was it a pain to get undressed to go to the bathroom? Of course it was. But still #worthit.

When I wasn’t wearing this romper, I was wearing this wine colored oh-so-casual shift dress (WITH POCKETS). To be honest, it was kind of short. But so am I, so it totally worked. I also think this will transition nicely to fall with some leggings and boots. I ordered this gem from Phileo Boutique in Hudson. (Ali has the CUUUUUTEST stuff there! Follow Phileo’s facebook page that I’ve linked!). P.S. How do fashion bloggers do it?? I know not ALL of them hire professional photographers, but there’s got to be a way to take an outfit selfie without being a contortionist, right?

My final favorite fashion/accessory of the summer was this 2 pack of temporary tattoos I got while we were on vacation in Colorado. You can find more designs at Tattly and be super trendy and edgy (temporarily though). Mine lasted about a good week (and that’s with taking showers too!). Now I’m itching for a real tattoo that’s visible, vintage, and floral… we’ll see since there’s a lot of other places we should probably put our money instead!

Reads:

Thanks to Joe’s cousin Katy, I read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. It was equal parts dark and hilarious with a twist at the end that I did not see coming. This fictional story explores the concept of present-day loneliness which seems absurd in our super-connected world right now, but yet…not. I loved, loved, loved Eleanor’s awkwardness and straight-forward communication style.

Much like 50 Shades of Gray six years ago, I had to see what all the fuss was about with Girl, Wash Your Face was. For someone who enjoys self-help books and inspirational reads, this was right up my alley and I finished the book wanting to work on all my goals (like, right now) and also cheer on others to do the same!

All We Ever Wanted is Emily Giffin’s most recent novel. She is one of my favorite authors. I first read Something Borrowed when Cece was an infant and I needed a way to stay awake while nursing (before smartphones). I’ve read all of her novels ever since. I love how she explores and examines the complexities of relationships; not just romantic relationships, but those between friends, parents and children, and more. She makes all of her characters so relatable, protagonists and antagonists alike. The main storyline of this: Teenagers from an elite high school in Nashville attend a party, get drunk (of course), and one boy snaps a photo of a girl…. and everything goes into a tailspin. The photo spreads like wildfire through the community. The boy is from a wealthy, prominent family. The girl is from a middle-class single parent family. All of the parents have very different ideas of how the situation should be handled and also who is at fault (if anyone at all).

This book’s themes feel so relevant now with the #Metoo movement and also the recent Brett Kavanaugh ordeal. Sexual assault of all degrees seems to hit a nerve because we also seem to know someone who has experienced it, committed it, or have experienced it ourselves. It can be so hard to talk about or even read about and I thought I would have a hard time stomaching this novel, just knowing we’ll have girls in high school in a few short years. But I read it in less than 24 hours. It was so well-written, and so substantial, I could not put it down. I kept scolding myself because I know I have to wait for another two years before her next book. Someone please read it so I can discuss it with you!

Ok! So those were my belated summer eat/wear/reads for you. To be honest, I’ve had no time to read this fall and I’ve mostly been wearing old hoodies and sweatpants the majority of the time, so I may have to pick up this feature when I’ve composed myself just a little bit more!